• f'ARTMENTOF 

SERVED JANUARY 11 , 201 1 : iSPORWION 

HPERATiONS 

I'"' ' ! I P 2=02 

U.S. DEPARTMENT Ot TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF HEARINGS 

WASHINGTON, DC 

IN THE MATTER OF 

SUSAN RICHARDSON 

FAA DOCKET NO. CP1ONMOO13 

(Civil Penalty Action) 

DMSNo. FAA-2010-1210 

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS 

REOUEST FOR HEARING 

AND ASSESSING CIVIL PENALTY 

Complainant Federal Aviation Administration ("Complainant" or "FAA"), on 

December 8, 2010,' filed under §§13.208(a) and 13.218(f)(2)(i) of the Rules of Practice 

in FAA Civil Penalty Actions, 14 C.F.R. §13.201 et seq. ("the Rules of Practice"), a 

Motion to Dismiss Request for Hearing ("Motion"). The Motion seeks dismissal of the 

Request for Hearing ("Request") filed by Respondent Susan Richardson ("Respondent" 

or "Ms. Richardson"). Complainant asserts that the Respondent's Request must be 

dismissed as untimely. 

The Rules of Practice, §13.16(g)(2), require a person charged with a violation 

who has requested a hearing - the position that Ms. Richardson is in - to make that 

request "[n]ot later than 15 days after receipt of the final notice of proposed civil 

penalty." Complainant has submitted copies of postal documents indicating that 

Respondent received the FAA's final notice of proposed civil penalty ("FNPCP") on 

September 27,2010 (Exhs. C and D attached to the FAA's Motion). Respondent's 

The Motion is dated November 1, 2010. However, it was sent by facsimile transmission, and received by 

the Office of Hearings, on December 8. The latter date is considered the filing date. 
Request, which is undated and not certified, is postmarked October 20, 2010 (Exh. E). 

The date of the postmark, which is construed as the date of Respondent's Request under 

the Rules of Practice,^ is 23 days after the date of the Respondent's receipt of the 

FNPCP. 

Respondent has not answered Complainant's Motion. 

The Motion is hereby GRANTED. The Rules of Practice are clear. Ms. 

Richardson was required to file a Request for Hearing no later than 15 days following her 

receipt of the FNPCP. She received the FNPCP on September 27,2010. Therefore, Ms. 

Richardson was required to mail her Requeslfto later tiian 15 days after that date, or by 

October 12. However, her Request was postmarked October 20. She was eight days late. 

Since Ms. Richardson's Request for Hearing was untimely, it must be dismissed, 

unless good cause is shown. Carl P. Langton, FAA Order No. 93-12 (March 25, 1993), p. 

6. But Respondent did not answer Complainant's Motion. Ms. Richardson made no 

attempt to demonstrate good cause for her untimely filing. 

In these circumstances, I am compelled to grant Complainant's Motion. I will 

therefore dismiss Ms. Richardson's Request for Hearing. Further, a penalty of $2,000, 

the amoimt sought in the Complaint, will be assessed. This docket is closed.' 

WHEREFORE, it is ORDERED as follows: 

1. Complainant's Motion to Dismiss Request for Hearing is hereby granted; 

2. Respondent's Request for Hearing is hereby dismissed; 

3. Respondent is hereby assessed a civil penalty of $2,000; and 

^ See section 13.211(d), which states in pertinent part:" The date of service ... shall be the postmark if 

there is no certificate of service,..." See also Michael R. Largen, FAA Order No. 94-27 (September 30, 

1994), p. 5. 

^ This decision may be appealed to the Administrator of the FAA. The notice of appeal must conform to 

sections 13.210, 13.211(e) and 13.233 of the Rules of Practice, which require that a notice of appeal 1) be 

filed not later than 10 days (plus an additional five days if mailed) from the service date of this decision, 

and 2) be perfected with a written brief or memorandum not later than 50 days (plus an additional five, if 

mailed) from the service date of this decision. The notice of appeal and brief or memorandum must either 

be a) mailed to the Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 

20591, Attn: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430, Wilbur Wright Building—Suite 2W1000, or b) delivered 

personally or via expedited courier service to the Federal Aviation Administration, 600 Independence 

Avenue, S.W., Wilbur Wright Building—Suite 2W1000, Washington, D.C. 20591, Attn: Hearing Docket 

Clerk, AGC-430. A copy of the notice of appeal and briefer memorandum also must be sent to agency 

counsel. Service upon the presiding judge is optional. 
4. This docket is closed. 

U.S. Administrative Law Judge 

Attachment - Service List 
FAA Docket No. CP10NM0013 

(Civil Penalty Action) 

SERVICE LIST 

ORIGINAL & ONE COPY 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, S.W. 

Washington, DC 20591 

Attention; Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430 

Wilbur Wright Building—Suite 2W1000' 

ONE COPY 

Susan Richardson, Respondent 

11987 N. County Road T 

Hayward, WI 54843 

Glenn H. Brown, Complainant's Counsel 

Senior Attorney, Office of the Regional Counsel, AAL-7 

Alaskan Region 

Federal Aviation Administration 

222 West 7* Avenue, #14 

Anchorage, AK 99513-7587 

.TEL: 907-271-5271 

FAX: 907-271-2800 

The Honorable Richard C. Goodwin, Administrative Law Judge 

Office of Hearings, M-20 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

East Building Ground Floor, Room El2-320 

Washington, DC 20590 

TEL: 202-366-2139 Attorney-Advisor 

202-366-5121 Legal Assistant 

FAX: 202-366-7536 

' Service was by U.S. Mail. For service in person or by expedited courier, use the following address: 

Federal Aviation Administration, 600 Independence Avenue, S. W., Wilbur Wright Building—Suite 

2W1000, Washington, DC 20591; Attention: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430.